Preview: 2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid

Running for hybrid crownB

By Gabriel Gélinas, Postmedia News

Originally published: August 30, 2012

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Los Angeles — One thing quickly became clear at the recent launch of the C-Max Hybrid: Ford is gunning for Toyota, the leading automaker in the hybrid segment. The C-Max Hybrid, priced at $27,199 for the SE version and at $30,199 for the SEL version, will arrive in Canadian dealerships in the fall of 2012 and will be a direct competitor to the Prius and Prius V by offering better fuel economy numbers and a more refined driving experience.

The C-Max Hybrid is a front-wheel-drive five-door hatchback built on the same C1 platform as the Ford Focus, but it offers more room, hence the name C-Max. Designed by Ford in Europe, the C-Max is slightly longer and wider than the Focus hatchback and is also more than 15 centimetres taller. But thanks to clever use of innovative features such as underbody aerodynamic shields, the C-Max Hybrid boasts a very effective 0.30 drag coefficient.

Although the C-Max Hybrid offers more overall interior room than the Prius V, this can be deceiving as it is mostly due to the Ford’s higher roofline, which effectively means that you can drive the C-Max Hybrid while wearing a top hat. In fact, rear-seat legroom is about the same in both vehicles and the cargo area of the Prius V is deeper and more usable when all the seats are occupied. But, compared with the Toyota, the cabin of the C-Max Hybrid is more upscale in look and feel, with an overall design that is similar to that of the recent Ford Escape.

The C-Max Hybrid is powered by an all new 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle in-line four-cylinder engine, which develops 141 horsepower and 129 pound-feet of torque, as well as an electric motor running on lithium-ion batteries for a combined total output of 188 horsepower, some 50 more ponies than the Prius V. Transport Canada fuel economy figures for the C-Max Hybrid are 4.0 litres per 100 kilometres in city driving and 4.1 L/100 km on the highway, again besting the Prius V numbers by 0.7 L/100 km. Although we were able to achieve a very low fuel consumption of 5.0 L/100 km for the mostly downhill 30 km of our test drive, the subsequent distance was covered at a rate of 6.4 L/100 km in real-world conditions.

Behind the wheel, the C-Max Hybrid offers a more relaxed and quieter driving experience than the Prius V. But, in terms of driving dynamics, both cars can be characterized as very efficient appliances that will get you from point A to point B with no real fun-to-drive character to speak of. Over the canyon roads north of here, the C-Max Hybrid proved its worth as a competent vehicle, but not a very engaging one from a dynamic standpoint. In short, it does the job but you won’t feel any desire to push it in the corners.

In fact, the only real communication between the vehicle and the driver does not apply to that classic seat-of-the-pants feeling but rather occurs through the SmartGauge with EcoGuide, where the C-Max Hybrid tells you how well or how poorly you are doing in terms of fuel economy. The SmartGauge of the C-Max Hybrid also integrates a new Brake Coach feature indicating how effective your performance is in terms of regenerative braking. After the vehicle comes to a complete stop, the display will tell you percentage-wise just how efficient your brake use was and, for what it’s worth, my best score was 99%.

The C-Max Hybrid will be offered in two trim levels and with three option packages, including the hands-free tech package, which features the hands-free powered rear liftgate system first introduced on the recent Ford Escape, as well as a rear-view camera. The Parking Technology package will also be offered with front bumper proximity sensors as well as the automatic parking system introduced on select Focus models.

The C-Max Hybrid will be followed by the C-Max Energi, which adds plug-in technology enabling motorists to better their fuel consumption through optimum use of a larger battery pack, which can be recharged overnight. The C-Max Energi will be priced at $36,999, but buyers in Ontario and Quebec will be able to take advantage of a $5,808 rebate offered by their respective provincial governments, which means that the more efficient plug-in Energi model will represent a very attractive proposition when it does come on the market later this fall.